'Professional Left' Still Loyal to Obama

Michael Warren

A straw poll of liberal activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference found that 80 percent of still "approve" or "strongly approve" of President Barack Obama. Roll Call reports:

A straw poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showed that 80 percent either approve or strongly approve of the president more than a year before voters head to the polls to decide whether he deserves a second term. The results broke down to 27 percent strongly approving of Obama and 53 percent approving “somewhat.” Thirteen percent said they “somewhat disapprove,” and 7 percent strongly disapprove of the president.

The poll of 519 people was conducted via iPad in the Minneapolis Convention Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Two-thirds of the respondents said they want Obama to focus on job growth. “Protecting health care” was the distant runner-up, with 9 percent of respondents saying that should be Obama’s top priority.